Washington enters spring practice Wednesday with a lot of questions and a lot of new faces.
The Huskies have lost 21 starters — 11 on offense, nine on defense and a long snapper. New coach Jedd Fisch will only have six practices to evaluate this roster before the transfer portal reopens on April 15, meaning this group may not be the one that hosts Weber State on Aug. 31 to open the 2024 season.
However, here are five players to watch when Washington opens spring practice at 5 p.m. Wednesday, officially signaling the beginning of a new era on Montlake.
Few players have been more patient than sophomore wide receiver Denzel Boston, especially in the era of the transfer portal.
A 6-foot-4 wideout who played in 14 games during the 2023 season, predominantly on special teams, Boston seemed set to be an immediate contributor after arriving to UW following an extremely productive four-year varsity career at Emerald Ridge High School in South Hill.
Boston played in four games as a true freshman in 2022, catching two passes for 15 yards and rushing for a touchdown against Portland State while preserving his redshirt.
He was buried on the depth chart in Washington’s stacked wide-receivers group a season later, stuck behind Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan, Ja’Lynn Polk, Germie Bernard and Giles Jackson. Boston had five catches for 51 yards in 2023, and McMillan praised his mentality and approach to practice.
“He’s a gamer,” McMillan said. “And he puts himself in gamelike situations and he makes the plays. So I love that about him.”
Only Jackson remains entering 2024, and Boston has a prime opportunity to seize a starting role. He’ll be competing with former California transfer Jeremiah Hunter, redshirt freshman Rashid Williams and Jackson, among others, but Boston’s size — he’s the only scholarship receiver listed taller than 6-foot-2 who will participate in spring practices — may give him an edge.
Zach Durfee’s story is a familiar one for Husky football fans. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound edge rusher from Dawson, Minn., spent two seasons at Division II Sioux Falls, racking up 11 sacks in 2022 after redshirting in 2021.
However, the NCAA rejected Durfee’s immediate eligibility waiver after deeming him a multi-time transfer because he spent one semester at North Dakota State as a student, despite not playing for the football team.
Of note, the NCAA’s rules requiring players transferring a second time without graduating to sit out for a season were struck down by a federal judge in West Virginia, who provided a temporary restraining order against the NCAA through the spring season after a lawsuit by former Washington men’s basketball player RaeQuan Battle.
The ruling in Battle’s case came too late for Durfee, who missed the entire regular season for the Huskies. He played a limited role during Washington’s Sugar Bowl victory against Texas after he was deemed eligible following the completion of fall quarter but has a chance to establish himself as one of Washington’s starting edge rushers in 2024.
“Zach Durfee should be showing out this year,” former Washington edge Bralen Trice said. “He’s one of the hardest workers I know. He’s really talented at the edge position and he’ll finally get his chance to show it this year.”
It’s possible this will be Durfee’s only season playing Division I football. A UW spokesperson told The Seattle Times his eligibility will be exhausted after 2024 after spending two seasons at Sioux Falls and losing 2023 to eligibility rules. Durfee may choose to challenge NCAA rules again to seek an extra year, but as of now 2024 will be his only season as an active member of the team.
Durfee will be competing with senior Voi Tunuufi, junior Maurice Heims, sophomores Jacob Lane and Lance Holtzclaw — another player Trice recommended watching this spring — and redshirt freshman Anthony James. Additionally, former Arizona transfers Isaiah Ward and Russell Davis II both lined up on the edge at times for the Wildcats.
On Dec. 18, 2023, Sebastian Valdez committed to a very different UW football program. His pledge was to coach Kalen DeBoer, defensive coordinators Chuck Morrell and William Inge and defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield.
Since then, DeBoer and Morrell departed for Alabama, Inge headed to Tennessee and Breckterfield now coaches at Baylor. Yet Valdez, who spent three seasons playing defensive tackle at Montana State, remained at Washington, and will participate in spring practices this season.
Valdez, a first-team All-Big Sky selection in 2022 and a second-team honoree in 2023, was a stalwart in the middle of the Bobcats defensive line. He made 44 tackles as a sophomore, including 10 for a loss. He also had two passes deflected, two forced fumbles and 7.5 sacks. A season later, he had 40 tackles and five sacks. Montana State made the FCS playoffs during all three years Valdez played, including a championship game run during his freshman campaign.
For context, no Washington defensive tackles made more than 19 tackles during the 2023 season.
This spring, Valdez will compete with senior Jacob Bandes, juniors Jayvon Parker and Bradley McGannon, sophomore Armon Parker and redshirt freshman Elinneus Davis. Junior college transfer Bryce Butler will also participate in spring practices after following coach Jedd Fisch to Washington.
Washington’s got massive questions along its offensive line and very little experience. Sophomore Landen Hatchett’s nine appearances as a true freshman in 2023 are the most among all its returners, while former San Diego State transfer Drew Azzopardi’s six starts paces the group as a whole.
One player with a chance to impress early this spring is offensive lineman Zachary Henning, who played twice during the past season against Michigan State and California, preserving his redshirt.
“That’s my guy from Colorado,” former UW right tackle Roger Rosengarten said.
Henning enters the spring listed at 6-foot-5, 292 pounds and has as good a chance as any of Washington’s young offensive lineman to make a claim for a starting spot this spring following the departures of all five of UW’s starters from 2023.
“I think he’s going to be a really, really good player,” Rosengarten said. “He’s put a lot of work into the weight room, put some weight on.”
Arizona’s impressive 2023 season was built on the emergence of redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Fifita. Listed at 5-foot-10, the Southern California native thrived after starting signal caller and former Washington State standout Jayden de Laura was injured during the fourth game of the season.
Fisch wasn’t able to bring Fifita north to join him on Montlake, but he did convince a player with a similar profile to make the move to Seattle. True freshman quarterback Demond Williams Jr. is slightly taller, checking in at 5-foot-11, and the 247Sports composite four-star prospect enjoyed a prolific career at Basha High School in Chandler, Ariz.
Williams threw for 10,035 yards and 93 touchdowns during four seasons as the starting quarterback at Basha, which plays in Arizona’s open division. He also rushed for 2,783 yards and 42 touchdowns. Williams threw 12 interceptions in his entire career, with only three coming as a senior when he led Basha to a 10-2 record and the state championship semifinals.
Former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers will likely have the inside track to become Washington’s starter in 2024, but Williams and fellow true freshman quarterback Dermaricus Davis will get opportunities to impress this spring, especially since UW only has three scholarship signal callers on the roster.
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